Boxing news from the Oct. 13th thru Oct. 15th weekend

When Tony Yoka reaches out his arms, it’s a wonder he doesn’t touch the ropes on both sides of the ring. To defeat someone like Yoka, an opponent would need to get inside that long reach, make use of right and left uppercuts and work over his more vulnerable midsection.

How long before we get to see Tony Yoka vs Deontay Wilder?

In Paris, France: The 25-year-old, 240 lbs., 6’7″ tall, 82″ reach Frenchman, Tony “La Conquête” Yoka, has certainly gained a large following after winning that Gold Medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. Yoka defeated all comers to win the Gold Medal in the super heavyweight division and then in his Pro-Boxing debut he KO’d Travis Clark (12-0, 8 KOs) from Morristown, Ohio. This past weekend, he knocked the 6’5″ tall, 278 lbs. Jonathan Rice (7-3-1, 4 KOs)from Los Angeles, Calif. off his feet.He is certainly moving fast to let the boxing world know that someday soon, he will be a contender for the World Title. Step one involved going to Brazil and bringing home the gold medal which meant defeating the three gentlemen in the top right photo.

To succeed in life we all need a helping hand along the way and no one has helped Mr. Yoka more than his partner in life, Estelle Mossely, who knows how much of a grind it is to be a top athlete. Like Yoka, Mossely won a Gold Medal in Boxing for France at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the female 60kg weight division. (photo, bottom, right) The management team has brought in veteran boxing coach/advisor Virgil Hunter to make certain Yoka reaches his goal.

The proud French Olympic Team finished seventh in the medal count at the Rio Olympics after winning 10 gold, 18 silver, and 14 bronze medals for a total of 42 medals.

The undefeated Travis Clark (12-0, 8 KOs) took a beating from Yoka and ended up falling to the canvas at the 2:01 mark of round two.

Victim #2 in Yoka’s quest for the title was the 278 lbs., 6’5″ tall Jonathan Rice from Los Angeles, Calif. (7-3-1, 4 KOs). Unlike Travis Clark, Rice at least went the full six rounds while losing decisively by a unanimous decision. The judges’ scorecards read 59-56, 60-54 and 58-56, all favoring Yoka. If we can get you to look at the photo, top left, you can easily see the advantage Yoka has over most opponents. His reach is so long, that when he throws his straight right or left jab, it’s like he’s using an extension ladder because those punches just keep coming forward until they reach you and then you feel the thud.

Gambler’s Advisory

We’ve all seen the extremely high odds when it comes to betting the favorites in Las Vegas. In the United Kingdom, the betting parlors will more than likely refuse to accept a wager on what they refer to as prohibitive favorites. Case in point, this past Saturday, there were two boxing shows in the U. K. which the Bookies refused to accept bets on. For the life of me, I can’t understand why?

(l) The 30-year-old Victor Efiong Edagha (0-20) and (r) Joe “Busy” Beeden (2-54) were due for a win.

There is such a thing as over-doing it. On October 21, 2017, 33-year-old light heavyweight Curtis Gargamo (0-44-1) will be fighting Sebastian Slusarczyk at the Harvey Hadden Sports Village in Nottingham. This will be Gargamo's 20th fight in 2017, his fifth in five weeks. There has got to be a better way of making a living.